In line with the action plan of the national anti-trafficking strategy, the Ministry of Interior revised the Government Decree on the identification order of victims of trafficking in human beings last year.
One of the most important changes is the removal of the legal restriction on the 90 + 90 days limit of care in the sheltered accommodations. The relevant ministries agreed that it is more practical to leave the setting of the upper limit of the care period to social workers, as the traumas suffered are not comparable, and the rehabilitation of individual victims can significantly exceed the six-month period.
As a new element, the Decree now sets out the so-called definition of safe accommodation, sheltered accommodation and indirect victim. It was also important to lay down that adult victim of trafficking in human beings and, if necessary, their minor relatives could be accommodated in the shelters (this is expressed in the terminology of “indirect victims”).
The list of bodies entitled to identification (signaling system) has been extended with the National Crisis Management and Information Hotline (in Hungarian commonly abbreviated as “OKIT”) and further minor amendments revise the criteria for the operation of sheltered accommodations and the provision of state funding.
The identification data sheet set out in the Annex of the Decree was also revised. During 2021, the list of the signs of victimization has been extended with a view to the specific situation of victims of domestic slavery. A typical indicator may be if the given person lives in a family but is eating separately from them or receives social benefits but the payment is being taken over by someone else or has to be handed over to another person immediately. In addition, the victim's alcohol or drug dependence is an important sign in all types of exploitation, especially if the presumed perpetrator has consciously established or maintained this addiction.
The new victim referral protocol applying to citizens of Hungary and the European Economic Area (EEA) identified in Hungary has also been added as a new Annex to the Decree.
The legislative amendments set forth in this article were all adopted by Government Decree No. 764/2021. (XII.23.) on the amendment of certain justice-related government decrees in 23 December 2021 and entered into force immediately upon publication in the Hungarian Gazette.